Anne van Schaik, sustainable finance campaigner at Friends of the Earth Europe, said: "Wilmar's commitment comes in the wake of years of land-grabbing and profiteering at the expense of local communities and the environment. But, abuses continue – Wilmar needs to clean up its act before we can take any of these promises seriously."

Wilmar needs to take immediate steps to end the conversion of natural forest into plantations; to adhere to national laws in the countries where it operates; to apply Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) in all of its operations, including returning lands acquired without communities' consent and to stop purchasing palm oil from the Bumitama Agri company – responsible for social and environmental abuses.

Palm oil is one of the main crops used in biofuels in Europe – fuelling Europe's cars, but also hunger and environmental destruction beyond Europe's borders. Demand for biofuels in Europe and elsewhere is one of the main drivers of rising palm oil demand: imports of palm oil for EU biofuels increased 365% between 2006 and 2012. Friends of the Earth Europe calls for a cap – at current consumption levels – on the use of biofuels which compete with food production (like palm oil, soy, rapeseed and cereals); followed by a complete phase-out.